Floating bearing



0 30,1934. I a R. B. ZUBER 1,978,876

FLOATING BEARING Filed Nov. 2, 1932 5 Sheets-Sheet l 1\' -44 55 a 2 J ii 4 7 5| I I i '47 1 I 2/ i 15 1 5 11? Em w 5,6. INVENTOR w WM ATTORNEYSOct. 30, 1934.

R B. ZUBER 1,978,876

FLOATING BEARING Filed Nov. 2, 1932 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 .QIZi3gxji INVENTORE0559 7' 5 Z0559.

ATTORNEYS Oct. 30, 1934. R. B. ZUBER 1,978,876

FLOATING BEAR I NG Filed Nov. 2, 1952 3 Sheets-Sheet 3 h H u '&

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INVENTOR 605597 5 Zdaae.

ATTORNEYS Patented Oct. 30, 1934 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE Claims.

This invention relates to floating bearings for journals, shafts, necksof rolling mill rolls, etc., which are carried and moved by the,journals, rolls, necks or shafts and serve to guide the rel volvingshafts or journals in their movements. The bearings may also be moved bypower means to adjust the position of the rolls, shafts or journals.

Such floating bearings are used, for example,

1 in certain rolling mill rolls such as three-high mills which aregenerally used as roughing or breakdown mills for rolling steel stripsor bars. These three-high mills generally consist of a large top rolland a large bottom roll and a smaller middle roll, the bottom andsometimes the top roll being power driven, and the middle roll beingdriven by friction from one of the other rolls.

In rolling, the steel after being taken from a heating furnace, is firstpassed between the bottom roll and the middle roll to bring about areduction in thickness regulated by the movement of the middle roll. Inthis bottom pass the middle roll is raised by the steel and, after the 2steel passes from between the rolls, the middle roll drops back to itslow position. The steel is then passed in the opposite direction betweenthe middle roll and the top roll for a further reduction in size, andthis cycle is repeated until the desired gauge is obtained. The middleroll, therefore,- moves up and down during the interval of time betweenpasses, and its bearings move with it and guide it in its verticalmovements.

Heretofore the roll necks of the middle rolls have been mounted inbearings that are placed within bearing chucks, said chucks beingvdesigned to move with the middle roll and guide it in windows of millhousings. The bearing chucks-are of heavy steel machined castings inwhich are inserted top, bottom and side brasses or bearing blocks toform a complete bearing for the roll necks.

An object of my invention is to provide a floating bearing in which theparts that move with the roll neck are of a minimum weight, therebyreducing roll damage and in which there are fewer moving parts.

Other objects 'of the invention are to provide floating bearings inwhich an accurate alignment 60 of the bearing and bearing guides'may beeasily made, and in which the cooling or lubricating parts are easilyaccessible, andin which adjustments for wear may be easily made.

other objects of the invention will appear from the following detaileddescription.

The various features of the invention are illustrated in theaccompanying drawings, in which- Fig. 1 is an end elevation of a portionof a three-high rolling mill showing a middle roll and floating bearingassembly embodying my invention.

Fig. 2 is a horizontal sectional view of the bearing taken on the line2-2 of Fig. 1.

Fig. 3 is a side elevation, partly in section, of the bearing taken online 33 of Fig. 2.

Fig. 4 is a part sectional view taken on line 44 of Fig. 1.

Fig. 5 is a vertical section taken on line 5-5 of Fig. 4.

Fig. 6 is a vertical elevation of guide members, 7 part of the guidingstructure being removed to show the construction.

Fig. 7 is a perspective view of a bearing member, and

Figs. 8 and 9 are perspective views of elements of the bearing guides.

In my invention the bearing is formed of a pair of blocks havingsemi-cylindrical surfaces to enclose the roll neck or journal, andhaving fiat faces which move on vertical guide surfaces. W The bearingblocks are confined between opposite parallel guide surfaces and areretained against endwise thrusts by end plates. The guide surfaces areadjustable vertically and horizontally by certain wedging surfacesco-operating with complementary surfaces on the supporting structure.The guide plates are movable with great accuracy on the wedging surfacesby actuating wedges and are secured in position by securing means.

In the operation of the rolls, the bearing blocks slide upwardly anddownwardly between the guide surfaces, being supported vertically by theneck of the roll. These bearing blocks may be hollowed in places toreduce their weight.

Referring more particularly to the accompanying drawings, the bearing isillustrated in connection with a middle roll 10 placed between an. upperroll 11 and a lower roll 12 of a three-high rolling mill. The roll 10 isprovided with a projecting neck 13 which is enclosed on opposite sidesby bearing blocks 14 and 15 which enclose the bearing neck except forsmall gaps 16 and 17 at the top and bottom'of the roll.

Each roll is for this purpose provided with a semi-cylindrical surface18 as -indicated in Fig.

7. Each of the bearing members 14 and 15 also has a flat face 19 and 20,respectively, on the side opposite the semi-cylindrical surface 18. Whenthe blocks are assembled about the bearabut parallel guide surfaces onhearing guides 21 and 22. The bearing formed of the members 14 and 15is, therefore, free to move upwardly and downwardly between the guides21 and 22 and to be guided accurately in such movement.

The guides 21 and 22 are so mounted that they may be adjusted accuratelyto position the bearing members 14 and 15 and to take up any wear in thebearing members. For this purpose the guides 21 and 22 are provided onthe sides opposite the guide surfaces 19 and 20 with inclined surfacessuch as indicated at 23 in Fig. 9. The guides are also provided with avertically extending tongue 23a inclined in a direction parallel to thatof the surface 23. The inclined surfaces of the bearing guides 21 and 22rest against complementary inclined surfaces of supporting blocks orcheek members 24 and 25, respectively, these cheek members beingprovided with grooves 26, as indicated in Fig. 6, to'receive the tongues23a of the guides.

, The cheek or supporting members 24, 25, are in turn secured to therolling mill frame 27 by a dovetail and groove construction 28 and 29,respectively, and are tightened in position thereon by wedges 30 and 31and by means of screws 32, as indicated in Figs. 3 and 6. It will beapparent that as the guide members 21 and 22 are moved vertically on theinclined surfaces of the supports 24 and 25, they will approach eachother and force the bearing members 14 and 15 into closer contact withthe neck of the roll; or, by moving either of the guide membersseparately, or by moving them in opposite directions, the horizontalposition of the roll may be adjusted. A very accurate and easyadjustment of the vertical positions of the guides 21 and 22 may beobtained by means of wedges 33 and 34 which are confined betweenover-hanging lips 35 of the guides and shoulders formed on the uppersurface of, the supporting or cheek plates 24 and 25,-see Figs. 4 and 8.The wedges 33 and 34 are provided with threaded rods '36 which passthrough suitable openings in bearing retaining or side plates 37 and 38,and are provided with nuts 39 resting against the plates 37 and 38, asshown in Figs. 2 and 4, whereby by threading the ends on the rod 36, thewedges 33 may be moved horizontally to raise or lower the guides 21 and22.

Retaining bolts 40, two for each guide, are also provided which arescrewed into threaded openings 41, Fig. 9, of the tongues 23a, and passthrough slots 42 of the cheek plates 24 and 25 and are operated throughopenings 43 in the retaining side plates 37 and 38 respectively. Whenthe guides 21 and 22 have been positioned vertically, they may beclamped in this position by means of the bolts 40. i

The side plates 37. and 38 are secured to the frame of the mill by meansof bolts 44 extending into or through the frame and passing throughhorizontal slots 45 in the plates 3'7 and 38 which permit horizontaladjustments of the plates toward or from the axis of the roll necks.

Shims 46 are provided between the side plates 37 and 38 and the frame ofthe mill so that the plates may be adjusted inwardly to take up any wearbetween the projecting ends of the plates which retain the bearingmembers 14 and 15. As the bearings 14 and 15 and the plates 37 and 38wear and become loose, they may be tightened by removing one or moreshims and tightening on the bolts 44.

ing neck, the surfaces 19 and 20 are parallel and The bearings, or themoving parts thereof, are composed of the two pieces 14 and 15. Thenecessity for using chucks or other framework and ad-- justing means forthe several separate .bearing parts is thereby avoided and the totalweight of the bearing members may be very greatly reduced. The necessaryadjustments are obtained by the adjustable features of the guides 21 and22 and of the side plates 37 and 38. The weight of the bearings may,therefore, be reduced to a minimum. To still further economize on weightand material, the bearings may be hollowed out, as indicated at 47 and48 in Fig. 7. The bearings may also be adjusted while in operation andmay be easily and quickly replaced.

What I claim is:

1. A floating bearing assembly comprising a pair of bearing units toenclose a journal, a pair of bearing guides, one at each side of saidbearing, and having surfaces thereon arranged parallel to guide saidbearing and on the opposite sides surfaces at an inclination to saidguide surfaces, independently supported fixed cheek plates havingsurfaces inclined complementary to and directly engaging those of saidguides, a wedge between spaced faces of said guides and cheek plates tomove said guides on said complementary inclined surfaces whereby toadjust the horizontal positions of said guides, said bearing units beingmounted with freedom for vertical movement relatively to said bearingguides.

2. A floating bearing assembly comprising a pair of bearing units toenclose a journal, 2. pair of bearing guides, one at each side of saidbearing, and having surfaces thereon assembled parallel to guide saidbearing and on the opposite sides surfaces at an inclination to saidguide surfaces, cheek plates having surfaces inclined complementary toand directly engaging those of said guides, a wedge between spaced facesof said guides and cheek plates to move said guides on saidcomplementary inclined surfaces whereby to adjust the horizontalpositions of said guides, bolts for holding said guides in positions ofadjustment, and retaining plates on said guide supporting structures toenclose the ends of said bearing members, the parallel surfaces of saidguides being of greater length measured vertically than the verticallength of the bearing units so as to provide for vertical freedom ofmovement of the bearing units relatively to said guides.

3. A floating bearing assembly comprising a pair-of complementarybearing units to enclose a journal and to provide parallel guidesurfaces on opposite sides thereof, a pair of bearing guides. one oneach side of said bearing, having surfaces thereon assembled parallel toguide said bearing and opposite surfaces at an inclination to said guidesurfaces and having tongues projecting from said opposite inclinedsurfaces, cheek plates having surfaces inclined complementary to thoseof said guides and grooves to receive said tongues, said cheek plateshaving a shoulder and said guides having a lip overhanging saidshoulder, a wedge between said shoulder and said lip to move said guideslongitudinally of said cheek plates, a bolt threaded into said tonguesand extending sidewise through slots in said check plates, and operatedthrough slots in side plates overlapping the ends of said bearingmembers.

4. A bearing structure for rolling mill rolls which comprises a pair offloating bearing blocks having parallel side faces, guides havingparallel vertical faces abutting said bearing block faces,

end plates overlapping and confining said bearing blocks, supportingmembers comprising cheek members, said cheek members having surfaces anda groove therein inclined to said parallel guide surfaces, said guideshaving a tongue and surfaces complementary to and resting on said cheeksurfaces whereby said guide members are moved toward and from each otherby a sliding movement on said inclined cheek surfaces, a wedge betweensaid cheek plates and said guide plates to move the latter on saidinclined surfaces, bolts passing through slots in said cheek members andthreaded into said tongue, a supporting structure for said cheekmembers, said cheek members and supporting structure having a dovetailconnection, and a wedge in said dovetail connection rigidly to securesaid check plates to said supporting structure.

5. A floating bearing construction which comprises a pair ofcomplementary freely movable bearing members, guides for said bearingmembers having parallel surfaces within and between which said bearingmembers move and having surfaces on the opposite side to said parallelsur-'

